The Strength in our Hearts
by TMOTTCrowd
Summary: Ironground only wishes to protect Princess Celestia, and to quell the shadows that haunt him. Gonna make the chapters a bit longer than the first one. Please read and review. I own nothing of MLP
1. Chapter 1

By the Strength of our Hearts

Chapter 1: Best First Impressions

Today was a special day for me, but I felt more scared than happy. I have only been to Canterlot three times in my life, and all of them were…less than pleasant. My family told me not to let those times ruin this special day for me, but I couldn't help but feel out of place. It's natural for most Earth ponies to feel out of place here, I know I certainly miss the feeling of the dirt under my hooves, but I guess I have a few other features that make me stand out among the crowd. Whatever stands out in Canterlot, usually gets the short end of the stick when it comes to popularity.

I stood larger than most ponies. Even Big Macintosh was about a foot smaller than I was. That along with my jet-black fur and grey mane gave me a considerably odd reputation. Little fillies would call me a giant, while the older ponies would confuse me for an old pony, which I knew was more insult than confusion. Working the fields of my parents' farm was hard, but it molded me into, Celestia willing, a true royal guard worthy of keeping her safe. I just hoped I didn't have to go through the same thing I did back at the farm. Shaking off those thoughts, I began my trot up the street to the castle.

Every step I took seemed to invite a new doubt into my mind, some new shackle holding me down.

How do I know this not some trick at my expense? No…no the Princess would never do something like that.

How do I know I ca really protect anyone? Of course I can protect her, just look at me.

How do I know I'm not just a big chicken though? My blank demeanor soon turned to a darker kind. I already knew the answer to that, which is why I am here, to protect the Princess…and her.

There was a tap on my shoulder and I realized I was standing in front of the Princess, with ponies of all kinds standing on either side of the ballroom in full armor. I felt like the most foolish pony in all of Equestria, and a large part of me wanted to run as fast as possible.

"Hello there, Ironground. I am honored to be in your presence." The Princess spoke with such grace, such beauty, I wasn't sure what to say.

"How does your mane flow without any wind?" I blurted out this statement like a foal in preschool. A part of me expected to be laughed out of there by the guards, but their stares just seemed to bore down on me. Laughing would be a lot better than this.

A soft giggle did break the tension, and seeing Princess Celestia laugh was odd, like I didn't even care if she laughed at me, and I almost **wanted** to make her laugh again. It wasn't love in the sense you'd have that very special someone, more of the love a young one feels for their mother. "It is by magic, Ironground, but I'm sure there are many of my subjects who wonder like you do."

Naturally, I felt it was appropriate to kneel to her, but she merely smiled warmly at me, like a mother to its child. "Rise, my brave pony, today you take on a tremendous amount of responsibility. I am sure that you are up for this challenge." Her words were so sweet; they had an odd effect that seemed to just melt all the doubts I had. I've heard tales of her beauty, of how her regal wings could unfold to unbelievable lengths. The white of her fur seemed brighter than snow, but much softer. Those eyes, those eyes embodied both hope and pure serenity.

"Do you pledge to devote yourself, heart, mind, body and spirit to keep this land safe, as well as your princess?"

There was an earthquake in my knees, the noise so terrible I thought everyone could hear it. Nothing wanted to work; my stupid head wouldn't even nod in acceptance. What came out of my mouth was probably the most embarrassing thing to escape my lips.

"Uhhhhhhhhh….okay." Okay! That is what I say in front of Princess Celestia and most of the royal guard in Canterlot! Anything else would have at the very least given off the impression that I had more intelligence than a plant. There was nothing else I could do besides go home in defeat, never to show my face to another pony again. As I started to walk away, I heard the Princess speak once more. Unsurprisingly, there was no disgust or hate in that sweet voice. "No were is my newest guard going off to?" she said in a playful tone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Basic Training

I began to stammer, unable to find a suitable response to her statement. Of course, I was a going to be a guard, regardless of my foolishness. Again, she used her grace to make up for my social clumsiness.

"I am certain that you will find a comfortable place as one of my guards. Shining Armor will show you to your quarters." She said, and with that, everyone started to file out, except for one. His fur shined a bright white, though not as brilliant as Princess Celestia's. Traveling down down the top of his head to the nape of his neck was a mane of light blue. Such a mane was well maintained, which spoke well to his commitment to the image of a royal guard.

"Well, you're certainly more reserved than some of the other guards I've seen. You don't talk much, do you?" He said with a solid, but friendly tone. Before I could get a word out he started to trot down the hallway. Even a pony of his stature had a stride that made it difficult to keep up.

"Chow time's at 800, 1500, and 2000 hours. Now since you're new, you won't have the privilege of personally guarding the Princess. You will mostly be providing security for formal events. It's not glamorous I know, but protecting Canterlot and its people is a reward in itself." All this he said with a truthful smile. While I had originally wanted this job to protect Princess Celestia, Shining Armor seemed to have this way of making it into more than that. As a guard, I wasn't just protecting one pony, I was protecting every pony that lived in Canterlot. While it filled me with pride, this new knowledge also placed a pit in my stomach. Guess I should have expected the stakes to be higher, but I was never the smartest apple in the bushel.

I wanted to speak up, but he continued to inform me of how things worked as a guard, so I stayed quiet. Plus, it would have been rude and I figured that keeping as many ponies from hating me as possible would be a positive thing. Shining Armor didn't seem like the kind of pony that would ever hate someone, but that unhelpful voice in my head told me the little stunt I did dishonored the guards.

"Now at first you'll be protecting garden parties, seasonal socials and cotillions. You'll be given a list and only the ponies on that list are allowed in the parties. We can't have strangers threatening the security of those upstanding ponies." I wasn't so sure of just how upstanding the ponies of Canterlot really were. Although, if Shining Armor cares for them…I guess I could try to look for the good ones.

"The pay's gonna start off a tad minor, but there's lots of opportunities to earn more bits. Just don't expect it to be a cake trot now. Being a guard is tough, and tomorrow you're going to be broken down into noting, so we can turn you into a guard. This is going to be a whole lot tougher than anything you've had to deal with on your family's farm." Finally, something that I could actually deal with, a physical challenge is much easier to handle than the weight of Canterlot on my shoulders. There wasn't a single ounce of fear in me when I thought of how tough the next day was going to be. If anything, it was just going to make me stronger.

Shining Armor did have another thing to say, and what he said struck me as a bit odd. "Oh yeah, one word of advice, don't let yourself feel inferior." This didn't seem to make a lick of sense to me. Why should I feel inferior? Life sometimes made me feel that way, but I figured here of all places we'd be equal. "Being an earth pony can be difficult here, in the presence of unicorns and pegasi. I especially have confidence that you will be a great guard, and I want you to feel at home here. This unit hasn't done so well in how they perform, and it has made them a bit, frustrated. Perhaps you can help them find a way to work in harmony, Ironground."

Wonderful, now two ponies have put their trust in me, plus I have to somehow get a unit of angry ponies to pull themselves together. This is why I prefer dealing with something like plowing fields, pulling carts, anything but this. With a sigh, I steeled myself and looked at Shining Armor, eyes filled with confidence, though it was clear how forced it was. "I'll do everything I can, sir. Though I don't think I'm leadership material, so I'm not sure how effective I'll be." Shining Armor looked me straight in my eyes and promptly shut me down on that idea. "I didn't ask you to lead them, they already have one, but they refuse to follow his leadership. What I am asking of you is to help them work together."

Shining Armor left to retire at his own quarters, leaving me to open this door and enter into something I wasn't prepared for. Other ponies…scare me. With all the times I've been insulted, teased and pranked on just because of my size, ponies just…make me nervous. Lately I've been feeling more scared these days, not just towards other ponies, but towards myself. Sometimes I forget about my size or my strength, than I remember her.

Opening the door, I walked in, finding it very impressive. It was an average sort of barracks, with six beds, three on either side. Each bed had a chest at the end of it, with the sheets purple and the sheets and pillow white. The walls were bare, with no accolades of any kind to speak of, though I had heard that guard units enjoy hanging up their trophies as a celebration of their teamwork. It seemed that Shining Armor was right, these guys were not doing well. None of them were there, most likely busy with some sort of exercise.

Slowly I walked past the beds, every one of them (besides the far left one on the left) had pictures or personal decorations of a sort. Guards were told to make their barracks their home, as to reduce any feelings of homesickness. There were pictures of the guards, from what I saw four of them were pegasi and the fifth being an earth pony. Three out of the four pegasi were brothers, triplets even. All three of them shared a similar cutie mark, a sparrow soaring into the sky. The difference being that one brother had one sparrow, another two and the third three. They were white furred with the one sparrow having a black mane, the two sparrows having a green mane, and the three sparrows having a blue mane.

The other pegasi seemed to have the least amount at his bed. There were two pictures of him, one as a filly and another as him possibly at his current age. Red fur and an orange mane adorned him, with blazing eyes of green that would stare right through you. His cutie mark was that of a single rose. In the younger photo, he was happily playing with some other ponies in a day care place most likely. However, in the older one, he's alone and looking angrily at a cloud he was standing on, as though it made fun of him or something. Around his neck seemed to be a medal, but it wasn't one I could recognize. After looking at it carefully, I realized it was a wooden, hoof carved medal with the words 'you did your best' on them. On the bedside table was that medal, though it looked as though he had tried to stomp on it until it broke. Surprisingly enough it was still intact, something carved in the back.

_Please find peace, Mercury Trail. We love you. –Your Parents._

Finally, I went on to the earth pony's bed. He had a fur of what seemed to be the brightest yellow I had possibly seen before. In the picture it almost seemed like it shined by some trick of the camera, but I could tell it wasn't. His earth green mane was wild and unkempt, though I imagine the barbers here made sure to tame it, as they did to mine. His cutie mark was by far the most unique I had seen on another pony. They called it the Dwennimen, it looked like two ram horns locking horns together. My grandmother used to tell me about things like this, but I couldn't put my finger on what it meant.

Suddenly there was a _WHAM! _The door slammed open as the unit came in, muddy and more worn out than that medallion I saw. Each of them looked angry, but Mercury Trail looked to be the most furious of them.

"I told you guys to do the formation right! We almost had them out there!" Blazing fire seemed to cover the green of his eyes. The triplets seemed nervous, and were looking for someone to deflect the anger from.

"If that idiot didn't break formation we would have done fine!" The first sparrow said, knocking himself into the earth pony's side, the armor making a loud clinking noise. With a shake of his head he simply started making his way to the bed.

"I'm so glad to know that people follow our fearless leader's orders so well, if only we could listen more." The pony said, sighing as he laid himself onto his bed with a thud. "Maybe I should just quit now and hand the reins over to you, Mercury Trail."

"Well maybe then we'd actually get something do—wait a minute, who in Canterlot is that guy?" With that, there were a lot of eyes on me, and it felt like I was going to get pummeled in no time flat.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It seemed as though I was off on the wrong hoof. In an attempt to recover, I decided to introduce myself. "My name is Ironground—"

"I don't care what your name is!" Mercury Trail said, almost growling at me. He was right in my face, and while that shouldn't seem as intimidating to someone as big as I am, that fire in his eyes certainly spooked me. "Why are you even here? You better not be our new squad member, I'm tired of having losers on my team!" This seemed to make everyone wince a little, what I didn't understand is why no one was saying something about it.

Just because this pony is a hot head, it doesn't mean he gets the right to talk down to his unit. "Look I don't know what your problem is but as the leader you need to stop putting everyone down." The yellow pony sighed as Mercury Trail laughed in my face.

"Please! As if I'd lead this band of losers. Peardrop over there is our 'leader' but he couldn't lead an apple to the ground." So, the yellow pony's name is Peardrop. It couldn't possibly be easy to lead a team with such a toxic teammate like Mercury Trail. How does Shining Armor expect me to bring them together? It seems all that my introduction into this place has done is make things worse.

Something told me that this was not a good time to get in a yelling match, as much as I wanted to make this pony sorry for his attitude. "We should all just get some sleep, and then we can yell at each other in the morning." Mercury Trail looked at me like there was going to be a lot more trouble, but I could see the exhaustion on his face clear as day.

"Whatever, just so long as I don't have to deal with you losers anymore, can't believe they stick us with another useless earth pony." After that little outburst, he went over to his bed. The triplets were already in their beds, and it seemed that Peardrop was snoozing in bed as well. Going over to my bed, I made the terrible realization that the bed was not going to be large enough for me.

"Okay…just got to figure this thing out." Climbing onto the bed, I found that if I did nothing, then my body weight would eventually cause me to slide off the bed. If I contorted my body correctly, then I could get myself to stay on the bed. Thankfully, the bed itself was soft, so it made my position a little less aggravating. Unfortunately, when I started to fall asleep, my body relaxed, and then I fell off the bed with a thud.

"You're going to wake up everyone if you do that again." I guessed the voice to be Peardrop's, and I was right. He was up, and he was gathering his armor and sheets in a pack. "Almost scared the daylights out of me when you fell, you need to go ask for a bigger bed after training." He finished with his pack all tied up.

I never really thought about that, and I was actually thinking about trying to tough it out. Guess toughing it out isn't the best option sometimes. "Say Peardrop, what are you doing with your stuff?" A part of me felt weird that our team leader was sneaking off in the middle of the night with his things.

"I'm going to clean up my things. I got mud all over them, and it wouldn't be right to leave them dirty like that." Now I feel a hundred times worse for what I was thinking. For a minute, I thought he was running away or something, when it turns out he's actually cleaning his things. Looking around I noticed that everyone else's beds were filthy with mud. One of the triplets didn't even bother to take off his armor before going to bed.

"Do you think we should help them with their things?"

"Na, they'll be fine. A couple unicorns come in and use their magic to clean up everyone." Now everything seems weird again. Why would he go through all this effort if someone else were going to clean it anyway? In a bit of curiosity I asked him why, thankfully he was open enough to explain more.

"My parents taught me to take care of myself. If someone else were to do something for you, that you could do yourself, then you should just do that thing. I guess the understanding is, that you should care enough about others, so that you don't burden them with idle things. This is my way of doing that, I guess."

"Seems like a good quality for a leader, though a difficult one." Peardrop began to walk out of the door after putting the pack onto his back. I followed, but was making a ridiculous amount of noise with my hooves. Somehow, Peardrop didn't seem to be making a single bit of noise with his hooves. "Hey, how are you doing that?" I said in a whisper, following him through the hallway, hoping that I could perhaps help him.

"Whenever I step, I start from the bottom of the hoof and go all the way to the other end. Distributes the weight better or something I think. Just do it so we don't wake up everyone in the whole castle. You don't have to come with me anyway."

"Hey, I don't have much else to do, and I don't feel like sleeping on the floor. Besides, I figured we should get to know each other maybe."

"Maybe? You trying to get yourself some wiggle room in case my image as a leader goes through even more mud, Mercury Trail won't suddenly start liking you just because you keep your distance from me." I really wish it was as easy to talk with ponies like it was to pull a plow.

"That's not what I meant; I just thought that we should get to know each other. Just a bad choice of words that's all." I said as I started to try and walked as he did. It was tough, but I think I kept the noise low enough to wake anyone.

Peardrop seemed apologetic about his outburst, so I guess he was more of a leader than I realized. "Yeah, I know. Sorry for snapping at ya like that, but it just gets hard sometimes, dealing with Mercury Trail's attitude."

"He seems like a real handful. Perhaps he just needs some time to find his way." Mercury Trail was more than just a handful; he was a tornado of chaos that might just lash out at you for getting too close.

"I know he does, I knew it as soon as I saw him, but he's so…so angry. How can one pony just be so angry at everyone?" That was certainly a good question, one that I hoped to find an answer too, before Mercury Trail did something that made it impossible to forgive him.

Maybe sharing what I saw around Mercury Trail's bed would help to understand him. Of course I knew that Perdrop had to know, but maybe it would jog some ideas out of him. "I noticed that too, which is why I asked the Highrise brothers and a few other Pegasi that knew him from back then. Apparently, Mercury Trail lost a lot of events, then suddenly he just started winning everything he did. It doesn't make a lick of sense to me." He was right, and it just made things weird. If he was winning and doing so well, then why was he so angry?

We arrived outside of the castle grounds, and into the woods. During that time of travel, we got to know each other a little more. Peardrop was a great talker, didn't even mind how I stumbled through a few of the talking points. Turns out Peardrop was also part of a farming family, and was connected to the Apple family, though not in a positive way.

"My grandfather harassed Granny Smith for years before we moved from Ponyville. All started when he kicked out one of her wheels when she was on her way to market, ever since they've had it out for each other." He said with a slight smile, us finding our way to a river just outside of the grounds.

"Why do you think he did all of that to her?"

"My parents told me that he was just a mean old pony that liked to make people miserable. Personally, I think he was in love with Granny Smith." That was certainly a surprising observation from him.

"How do you think so?"

Peardrop went into the river and began washing the sheet first. "Cause I met the old man, and he doesn't seem like the type of person to do that kind of thing out of spite. He just seemed…regretful about it I guess. Maybe he wanted to go about it a different way than he did the first time around, but I don't think it's gonna work." He seemed to be having a difficult time washing the sheets, so I went down and helped him out. "Do you think I'll ever get them to listen to me?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. Mercury Trail seems to be your biggest problem."

"Mercury Trail is not my biggest problem, I am. A leader deals with problems, but I can't seem to get the courage to stand up to him." There was some sadness showing on his face, and it made me wonder about the sadness he wasn't showing. "If I can't keep Mercury Trail from walking all over me, then I can't be a leader."

I wish there was something I could do for him. Something I could say, but I'm all muscle, no brawn. Whatever I could say, it would probably just make it worse. Instead of saying something, I helped him clean the rest of his things, then we went back to the castle. Once we did get back, I noticed that all of the other beds were clean, including the other ponies. Peardrop went back to bed, and I just kind of sat at mine. There was no way I was getting sleep, but I had to say something to Peardrop.

"Hey, Peardrop." I said, about as hopeful as a pony could be, my heart pounding in my ears.

For a moment, I thought that he was asleep or ignoring me. Then, out of the darkness, he said. "Yeah?"

It was now or never, I suppose. "I think you can be a great leader, and I'll be here to help you out if you need it."

"Why are you telling me this? I mean, I appreciate it but it can't just be out of the kindness of your heart."

"It is out of the kindness in my heart, because you need a friend. I wanna be your friend Peardrop, everyone deserves at least one I guess."

Peardrop laughed, and I wondered if my act of kindness was going to make him feel better. It wasn't a selfish thing, it was just something that I felt was right, I suppose. "You seem all right, Ironground. Sure let's be friends, then tomorrow we can get beat up by Mercury Trail and his goons as friends."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As the morning came, I saw that Peardrop said was indeed true. Every inch of the room was spotless, which did have a way of making our efforts a little futile. Everyone else was already up and putting on their armor. Their muscles looked a little sore, but ultimately everyone seemed okay, even Mercury Trail seemed a bit happy. "Can't wait to let some steam out today," the way he looked at me for a moment and chuckled made me a little nervous.

Sitting next to my bed was my armor, a glorious example of pony artistry. Golden plating riveted together formed a perfect fit around my entire frame, though I didn't remember ever giving them my measurements. There was a great sense of pride that started to well up inside of me as I wore this armor, and it felt good. After the ceremony, I wasn't sure what was supposed to make me feel like a guard, but I think this moment was the one that really made me feel like a true guard. We all stood in front of our beds, waiting for our commanding officer to come in and to direct us, what I didn't expect was Shining Armor to be that officer.

He seemed to be nothing but business when it came to his work. His face was stern, and somehow his armor seemed to outshine us all. "All right everyone, we're going to be doing our normal exercises for today before you go on assignment. I know that things haven't been going well for you, which is why Princess Celestia has chosen me to help guide you into working together." Mercury Trail flared his nostrils and I could almost feel the anger coming off him. "Don't think of this as a punishment, everyone wants you to succeed, we just think you need a little help. If you let me, then I can help you, if not, then you may as well leave now before you waste anyone else's time."

Tension hung in the air as he looked at all of us. I didn't want to believe that anyone would intentionally want to keep things in chaos for us. A part of me felt that everyone wants to work together, it's just that maybe we are all our own worst enemies. A part of me wanted to see Mercury Trail leave, and I felt a little ashamed for it. No matter how bad things get, I should never wish another pony ill will, no matter how bad they are. With a deep breath, I followed the others as we marched out for our exercises. During this time Mercury Trail made me very desperate to reconsider my morals.

Exercises were what you would expect. Sit-ups, push-ups, and running laps through an obstacle course, but it was the last one that Mercury Trail made very difficult for me. It seemed that no matter what I tried, either Mercury Trail or the Highrise brothers were knocking into me like I was a piñata. Nothing in my life felt more frustrating, because I wanted so bad to knock back at them, but Peardrop stopped me.

Before we went to the track, he stopped me for a moment and told me. "Whatever happens just let it go. Their gonna hit us with a lot of force, but we can't fight back."

Shocked was an understatement. Peardrop had to be joking with me about this. "You can't be serious, their bullying can't just be ignored!"

"Irongroud, listen to me, this is an order." For a moment, I was a little stunned by this. Those eyes just bored into me, and it felt like Peardrop was really putting his all into this command. It would have been easy for me to just tell him no, to disobey him and to fight back. Honestly, I'm not sure Peardrop would have stopped me if he did, but I couldn't do that to him. Peardrop wasn't just asking me as a leader, he was asking me as a friend. In order to help him believe more in his ability to command, I had to take this hits. There were many hits.

Mercury Trail went in for a dive, aiming straight for our leader. Even with our armor, that was going to hurt, maybe too much to keep up Peardrop's order. With enough luck and timing, I was able to intercept that attack. All three of us were sandwiched together, and being in the middle felt like I was about to get flattened, but I was certain it would have been worse without the intervention. We stayed on our hooves, and Peardrop looked at me with great amount of gratitude.

"Ironground—"

"I know what you're going to say, but I couldn't let Mercury Trail hurt you. It doesn't matter if we're taking the high ground, if we let them take us out of the game entirely!"

"No you don't understand Ironground, your right, but also wrong." Peardrop said, and I felt severely confused. "We gotta stick together, stay close to me, and their attacks will lose their strength. They can't topple us when we're together!" He was right, that crazy pony was right. Running side by side, Mercury Trail and his goons just couldn't hurt us.

Once we were done with the laps, we noticed the pegasi in our group had a different attitude. Their heads were down, and I could have sworn I heard one of the Highrise brothers mutter out a sorry to us. "I can't believe that worked. It was like we were invincible!"

Peardrop was almost glowing with confidence. "That really was amazing; I hope those guys think twice before messing with us like that again." The pegasi in our group were gone, supposedly to our assignment, but Shining Armor was walking right towards us, his face unreadable. "Maybe he's going to congratulate me."

"Exemplary work you did Peardrop that was smart thinking on your part." Shining Armor complimented, and I felt like we were getting the break we deserved. "However, having to make strategies just to deal with your own subordinates is a dangerous thing for a leader to do. Reign in your troops, Peardrop, I'm considering your troop for a very important assignment. If you don't shape up, I'll find another unit that has. Are we understood?"

Our victory seemed bittersweet at that moment, and I didn't like the taste it left in my mouth. "Sir I don't believe that is a fair assumption of our abilities sir. Mercury Trail he…he refuses to work with us."

"Have you tried talking with him, or did you plan on just waiting for him to open up on why he's acting that way?" Shining Armor had a point, and again I felt like a fool for it. Neither of us have really tried to talk with Mercury Trail, so I guess it was just as much our fault for not trying to understand him. As both of us felt equally shamed, we went on our way to the assignment Shining Armor gave us.

"So…what should we say to Mercury Trail?" I asked, feeling nervous now that we had a clear plan on what we had to do.

"I'm not sure, but we have to get it dealt with, or else we'll be passed up for this assignment Shining Armor told us about." He sighed in frustration. "I'll just go talk with him myself. Both of us might upset him to the point of not talking to us at all." It was a fair point, but I was worried about what Mercury Trail was going to do to him.

"If you believe that's best, then I'll trust in your judgment." I told him, hoping that this doesn't blow up in our face.

This seemed to lift Peardrop's spirits, and I felt a little better about letting him go about it alone. "Thank you, Ironground. That means a lot to me, I mean it." With that, we headed on down to our assignment, which was a garden party down the lower part of Canterlot.

Our assignment was a standard guard duty. Peardrop left me at the front entrance to go find Mercury Trail, leaving me to guard the way into backyard. The place seemed very familiar to me, like I had been there before. Everything seemed like a normal party, with ponies tasting the food and socializing with each other. There was a sound, a sound like a wagon was being pulled, which was odd since there were no wagons on the roads. With the sound only getting closer, I was wondering if someone was playing a trick on me or not.

"Oh Ironground, you always did have your eyes set on the things in life." Came a sweet voice from my haunted past, I dared not to look behind me, but I knew it wouldn't do any good for me. Turning around I saw her, Starlight Hope, the love of my life, and the life I had ruined so long ago.


End file.
